The Real Deal
by La Bitca
Summary: How season 4 should have gone, in relation to Jo and Zane. Because they're my OTP and they will have their happy ending, dangit! Basically, lots of manipulation of the aired storyline.
1. Home Sweet Home

_I love Eureka, don't get me wrong, but was anyone else completely unsatisfied with the turn of events for Jo and Zane's relationship? Well I was. And this is the manifestation of said dissatisfaction. I've never written any fan fiction before, but I love reading it and I always have these situations play through my head of how I wanted my OTPs to progress in episodes. And since this persistent little bugger has been plaguing my dreams (well not plaguing, any dream about Eureka is a good dream), I decided to get it down on paper. Or on computer. Semantics. _

_So yeah, this is how I thought Jo and Zane's relationship should have really unfolded during Season 4. There are a bajillion shout-outs to the actual season, since it truly was fantastic. I hope you enjoy it!_

_Also, I don't own Eureka, otherwise season 4 would have gone more like this. Harrumph. _

* * *

><p><strong>Home Sweet Home<strong>

Zane. She had to find Zane. Never before in her life had she been so eager to get to the Sheriff's Office, and man, she liked to work. Enforcing justice with an iron fist and perfectly slicked-back hair was Jo's expertise.

But for the first time in well, ever, she started letting that gelled hair down. Zane had brought such spontaneity, such fun to her life. He knew how to make her feel feminine and beautiful, but never in a flimsy girly-girl sort of way. Of course, the Hulk couldn't make Jo feel weak. Mr. Mean and Green would be in a ninja head lock before he could even finish the syllable. But right, Zane.

When Zane was around, she could laugh. When Zane was around, she could let her titanium-plated walls come down. When Zane was around… she could live! But without him… she couldn't imagine it. She wanted to marry him. Hell, she needed to marry him. And when she finally burst through those doors, there he was.

* * *

><p>Zane's head jerked up as he heard someone enter the jail. And there she was, the bane of his existence, charging through the doors like a bull hungering for some matador flesh. He felt a smirk tug at his lips – was she really dressed up for Founder's Day?<p>

"I never took you for the whole get-in-the-holiday-spirit type, Lupo." Yup, there came the smirk.

But she only shook her head and said "Just shut up, I need to say this before something else gets in the way."

Something else? Though taken aback, he kept his mouth shut. This should be interesting.

She took a deep breath and began: "I am so sorry about earlier. I don't know what I was thinking. Maybe I was just thinking too much, you know? I do that sometimes…"

Zane was getting bored. "Lupo, what the hell are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is… yes. Yes I will marry you."

Zane was taken aback. What kind of sick prank was this? When he looked up at her, her face beamed so much that if it got any brighter, Zane thought he might need to put on sunglasses. Her eyes glittered and she had a shy but heartfelt smile on her face. For a second, Zane felt something stir inside of him. But he quickly smothered it – hell, she'd probably just been taking acting classes. So he laughed it off and shot her down; she wasn't going to get to him _that _easily.

"Me marry you? In what universe?" He chuckled some more to himself, since this was clearly some sort of scheme. Maybe Lupo's holiday spirit consisted solely of toying with his emotions.

But weirdly enough, she seemed to be the emotional one. She was still standing there, brow furrowed, luscious lips slightly agape, eyes wide and brimming with… tears? Wait, tears? Since when could robots cry? When she finally realized that Zane was squinting at her, she blinked and backed away. One, two, three steps. After staring at Zane once more with a look that consisted of shock, pain, and confusion, she turned on her heel and practically ran out of the jail.

That was so weird - she had overtly expressed emotions other than anger. Zane had always thought that Jo Lupo's emotions were some sort of intangible myth, but maybe he'd been wrong…

Nah. She was just messing with him. She had to be. He brushed the whole situation off and went back to his magazine.

Dammit, he'd lost his place.

* * *

><p>She'd lost him, she'd lost everything. The sun was too bright. The people were too loud. Or was that her heart pounding? Was it even still beating? This wasn't happening. It couldn't be.<p>

For three years she had fought with Zane, she had joked with him, she had loved him. He was an integral part of her life – he had asked her to marry him! But that was gone now. It was all gone: all the laughter, all the kisses, all the make up dinners, all of it. Gone. Poof! Only this wasn't some light-hearted magic trick, it was her life that had been messed with.

As she finally managed to stumble back to her house, she collapsed on her bed. It was just this morning that she was moments away from getting engaged and spending the rest of her life with the man she loved. If only her call to Zane would have gone through instead of transporting her back in time… damn you Trevor Grant. Damn you to the farthest reaches of hell where people burn eternally for smashing other people's dreams. For smashing Jo's dreams. Repeatedly. With a sledgehammer. As a tear trickled over the bridge of her nose and dropped onto her pillow, Jo closed her eyes.

This new timeline sucked.


	2. A Shiny New World

_I am totally putting a new twist on this. Mwahaha. I've got the power!_

_But alas, still not the power to own Eureka._

* * *

><p><strong>A Shiny New World<strong>

Another day, another Zane-less 24 hour period of misery. Yippee. After dragging herself out of bed and through a quick shower, she got ready for the day, going over her mental checklist.

Power suit: check. Heels: check. Ponytail: check. Minimal makeup: check. Ring: check.

She pushed the sparkling jewelry around the palm of her hand and wondered if this-timeline-Zane still had his grandmother's ring. She absent mindedly picked it up and started to slip it over her ring finger, but stopped herself before she finished. It would just be too painful to see. So instead, she strung it back on her chain, and clipped it around her neck. It's amazing how heavy that less-than-an-ounce object felt; but this was an immeasurable weight. It was the weight of what she'd lost.

As she hopped into her blue sedan on her way to Café Diem for her morning Vinspresso, she mulled over this shiny new world. The day after the whole Zane fiasco, Fargo had texted her with news about her shiny new job, which, Jo had to admit, was pretty cool. She missed hanging out with Carter all day, but head of GD security? Achievement unlocked! Grant had wisely decided to skip town, with the threats of being discovered and being maimed by Carter for hitting on Allison both looming over his head. And Fargo and Allison were both extremely happy with their new positions, though it had taken some getting used to Fargo's newfound high and mighty status.

But along with the shiny new office and the shiny new weapons and the shiny new life, there had to be a shiny new Zane. God he was _such _a jackass. In this timeline, he'd gotten arrested for the most asinine little misdemeanors; it looked like old Jo used any excuse possible to lock him up. Of course, that's all she wanted to do now too. Lock him up for being an imposter, for not being her Zane. So in order to avoid some sticky situations, Jo had resolved to avoid new Zane altogether. It was all she could do.

When Jo finally pulled up to GD with caffeine coursing through her veins, it was 6:28. Punctual, as usual. She walked in and was met by Fargo for their morning review.

"Hey Jo, so this is officially the start of inspection month. Yayyy." Fargo waved his hands around in the air with false enthusiasm, while she gave him the _really Fargo, because you're the head of GD now_ look.

He noticed Jo's matching lack of gusto, and put his arms down. "Basically, we get to go around and listen to five billion spiels about all the projects GD is doing for our annual write-up. And by we, I mean you. Sorry." He smiled weakly at Jo, while she groaned.

"Couldn't we have arrived in this timeline after they'd finished all the inspections?"

Fargo only chuckled bitterly and handed Jo a tablet. "Here's a list of all the projects, their supervisors, and your schedule. Also… you're going to have to interview Zane for one of them."

Jo's head snapped up and she noticed that Fargo's face was filled with concern for her. Damn, that meant she couldn't cause him bodily harm. She hadn't locked anyone up in a while, and with the current situation, she was getting a bit antsy.

"I mean, it's Parrish's project since this Zane seems to be kind of incompetent, but he'll probably, you know… be there," Fargo explained. "Is that alright?"

But Jo couldn't answer, all she could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other. It's all she had been doing for the past week. But Fargo gingerly placed his hand on her arm, stopping her from walking any farther and forcing her to meet his gaze. "Jo. Are you going to be okay?"

She swallowed and mumbled something along the lines of "I'll be fine," leaving Fargo only slightly convinced.

"Okay well good luck, and keep me updated. And if you need anything…"

Jo waved him off and started towards the shooting range. People weren't going to be arriving for another 20 minutes or so, and she figured that now was as good a time as ever to get out some of her frustrations. That way she wouldn't eat the scientists alive; if she was going to have to live in this shiny new world, she might as well turn over a new leaf for other Jo. She didn't like it when everyone was scared of her all the time anyways.

Just some of the time.


	3. Good Eats

**Good Eats**

It had been a long week. With hour after hour of inspections, followed by hours and hours of write-ups, Jo was getting pretty exhausted. She sat back in her chair and rubbed her eyes – staring at her tablet screen for long periods of time could not be good for her health.

"Knock knock."

Jo looked up to see Carter standing in her office doorway.

"Who's there?"

"Banana."

"Oh don't you start that with me!" she grumbled.

But he just shot her one of his thousand-watt smiles:

"Hey, you asked."

She could never stay mad at Carter. Lucky for him.

Jo crossed her arms. "What's up? Have you just come to tell me terrible knock-knock jokes?"

"Hey, my jokes are funny! But no. I'm here to see how you're doing. Allison said you visited her the other day and you looked like the living dead," he said teasingly.

"Oh well gee, that makes me feel great about myself," Jo muttered exasperatedly. "It's just been a rough week, that's all."

"Well then!" Carter clapped his hands together and suddenly looked extremely excited. "Now is the perfect time!"

"…perfect time for what?" Jo asked warily.

"For celebrating your promotion, of course! Head of GD security, that's big stuff."

"Carter, we've been here for two weeks, and you're just now deciding that we should celebrate my new job? It's not even new in this timeline!"

"Nonsense! It'll be fun. C'mon, let's go." He picked up her jacket and dragged her out of the office. "Besides, I already told the gang to meet us at Café Diem in 10 minutes."

Of course he did.

* * *

><p>As the five of them stepped inside the cozy little café, Carter called Vincent over.<p>

"Bring us some drinks, Vince! Tonight, we celebrate," he said, grinning widely at Jo.

Vincent only looked back and forth between Jo and Carter with his eyebrows raised and head roaming around, as if to pick up some signals concerning what was happening.

"Celebrating… what? Exactly?"

"Jo's…" Carter trailed off when he realized that everyone was pointedly glaring at him, with Fargo even not-so-subtly gesticulating for him to shut up. "Jo! Just Jo bein' Jo. Because she's soooo _awesome_."

He finished with a cheeky grin and a jocular punch to Jo's shoulder. She snorted with disbelief, while Henry rolled his eyes, Fargo smacked his forehead, and Allison simply smiled and shook her head. Vincent seemed oblivious to the whole exchange though, and clapped his hands gleefully saying, "Great! I'll whip you guys up something special, in honor of National Jo Appreciation Day," with a wink to the woman of the day herself.

As Vincent practically skipped away, the group sat down.

"Gee Carter, think you could be any more obvious?" Jo drawled as she eyed him with a faint smile playing upon her lips.

"Hey, Vince totally bought it. I'm a natural!" he said while proceeding to swing his arms open in a wide gesture, taking Henry's silverware with it.

"You have the grace of a ballerina, Jack" Henry quipped with a twinkle in his eye as Carter sheepishly stared at the now dirtied pile of utensils on the ground.

Allison then leaned in conspiratorially and whispered, "Personally, I think Vincent will take any excuse he can to 'whip us up something special'. Did you see the bounce in his step?"

While the four of them chuckled, Fargo only nervously adjusted his tie. "But that could've been really close!" he squeaked. "You could have exposed that we're newbies to this timeline, and then if people find out, we're sanctioned! Kaput! No more Fargo!"

"Well when you put it thatway, I think I might just stand up on this table and proclaim to all of Café Diem that we went back in time to 1947 and changed the universe! Because hey, at least no more Fargo!" Jo countered. The group laughed while Fargo playfully pouted, and for the first time in two weeks, Jo felt at home.

At this point, Vincent brought out their drinks. Carter cleared his throat and lifted his glass in a toast.

"To Jo: my fabulous ex-deputy and now my fabulous head of GD security. Though I got the Sheriff promotion over you, ha-ha," Jo rolled her eyes but he continued as though nothing had happened, "I have never doubted your abilities. You are smart and resourceful, and quite intimidating (always a positive characteristic when you work in law enforcement), not to mention beautiful and overall stupendous. It's no surprise that yougot promoted over mefor this job. Congratulations Jo."

The whole group whistled and applauded Jo, clinking glasses as she blushed and nudged Carter. She wasn't big on the sentimental crap, but what he said had meant a lot to her.

"Thanks Carter," she said shyly.

"No problem Jo," he replied in a low and comforting fatherly tone. "Now who's ready for some grub?" he roared, slamming his fists on the table, drawing more laughter and the clinking of (new sets of) utensils as the group dove into their expeditiously delivered food.

After they'd chowed down on the delicious meal Vincent had prepared, with no shortage of poking fun at each other, Jo sighed in contentment. So okay, she didn't have Zane and that was hard to accept, but look at what she didhave. She had a great job. She had friends – she still had love. She could still find happiness. And it may not be enough for forever, but hey.

It was enough for today.


	4. Teenage Rage

_Mostly a lot of Zane being childish, since he seemed pretty immature at the beginning of season 4. At least for Jo's standards._

* * *

><p><strong>Teenage Rage<strong>

Who did she think she was? She couldn't just disregard his existence completely. No one could ignore Zane Donavan. That's just not how it worked. But apparently, much to his dismay, it seemed to be working pretty well for one Jo Lupo. God she was so infuriating! How many pranks had he pulled this week alone? 4? That was impressive, even for him!

But did she come down and lock him up? Nooo. She just sent her little goons to come and have talks with him. Talks! Not even lockup! Zane hadn't seen the inside of her office in weeks; it was like he was going through withdrawal. He needed his daily dosage of Lupo. Where were the handcuffs? Where was the witty repartee?

But it's not like he missed her or anything.

It's just that everywhere he went, any time he saw her, two seconds later she'd be out the door or around the corner. Like she had some sort of Zane-dar that alerted her to his presence without her actually having to see him. He was practically fuming. How could she make him so angry? Hell, for all he knew, she and the other four were probably performing some sort of emotional test on him that started on Founder's Day.

"Look, why don't you just go take your lunch break now, before you grind your teeth into nothingness," Parrish snapped in agitation. "I can hear you gnashing from all the way over here."

Zane exhaled angrily and practically slammed down the part he was working on. "Fine, I'll just finish this when I get _back_ then," he snarled with what might have been classified as a little too much audacity. This was Parrish's project after all. And it's not like Zane was getting much work done with all of the stuff going on inside his head.

As he stalked out of the lab, he made a conscious effort not to clench his teeth. But really, what was her problem? Was she above him now? Was that it? No, it couldn't be. Even though they harassed each other with insults concerning who was smarter, who was stronger, who was more successful, who was better - there had always been an unspoken recognition that they were on equal footing.

So what had changed? As he stomped down the sidewalk with his hands stuffed in his pockets and brow furrowed, he realized that he probably conveyed the aura of the typical moody teenager, but he didn't care. That's how he felt. And as he pushed open the doors to Café Diem, he saw the source of his misery, sitting alone at the table in the far corner of the room. He was about to march over there and confront her about how she'd been acting, but something stopped him.

She had this… look on her face. Like she'd just been told that the sun was no longer shining, or that - just kidding - chocolate didn't exist. Before, Zane had never really seen Lupo look particularly happy, unless she was around the Carters or Allison or any of those people, but now… he'd never seen her look depressed. And that's how it appeared she was feeling.

He took a hesitant step forward as if he was going to comfort her or something weird like that, but then Fargo slid into the seat across from her. It's not like the Enforcer needed comforting though, that was a ridiculous notion. He shook his head and sat down at the counter. He was just having an off day, that had to be it.

* * *

><p>Jo looked up from her halfheartedly eaten and now cold Minestrone soup to see Fargo sitting across from her.<p>

"Hey Jo!" he said brightly. "I uh, heard you were going to visit Zoe soon?"

"Yeah, actually, I'm going to see her next weekend." She smiled. After Carter had come back with the news that Zoe wasn't some sort of whack job, Jo had immediately set up a girl's weekend. Carter had told Zoe about the timeline situation, and Jo really needed someone to talk to other than Allison, who was currently in the honeymoon phase. Jo was happy for Carter and her, but man, she needed to escape the nonstop lovey-dovey interactions for a while.

"Great! I was hoping you could give her this for me?" Fargo heaved a box up onto the table, shaking all the silverware and Jo's soup.

"Holy crap Fargo, what's inthat thing?"

"Oh, just some stuff that she might appreciate. You know, little things." As he said this, his ears flushed pink, and he decided that anywhere except Jo's eyes was a great place to look.

A grin crept up Jo's face and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Riiiight, little things. Okay. I get it. I'll be sure to bring it for her."

Fargo nodded, now completely embarrassed. He stood up awkwardly while still refusing to look at Jo, because if he did, her suspicions would be confirmed – not that they already weren't. Jo snickered internally; this would be a fun conversation to have with Zoe.

Very fun indeed.


	5. Inspection Day

_Eureka isn't mine… yet. Ha. Haha. Hahaha. AhhahahahaMWAHAHAHAHAHAHA._

_*clears throat*_

* * *

><p><strong>Inspection Day<strong>

Inspection day. And Monday. What a terrible combination. And as if that wasn't enough, the Enforcer was doing the inspections. Whoop-dee-frickin'-doo.

For almost a month now Lupo had been avoiding him. Even when he helped find the culprit of the whole rocket situation, she never personally recognized his contribution. Surprisingly, Carter and Fargo had, and even sincerely thanked him for helping, with a pat on the shoulder and everything. It's not like Zane had an option though. It was either help the nice law enforcement people or get thrown in jail for refusing to cooperate – gee, that was a toughie. But now that he thought about it, it didn't seem like Lupo even had the inkling of locking his ass up for insubordination.

And, okay, it's not like she disregarded his assistance; in fact, she was the one who had the initial idea of turning to Zane for help. But she never even made eye contact with him! It was almost as if she had felt awkward and uncomfortable to be around him. Sure they had never gotten along, but if there was one thing Jo Lupo wasn't, it was awkward.

Ah, speak of the devil. As soon as she stepped foot into the room, all the scientists anxiously adjusted their lab coats and hurriedly cleaned up their stations. But as Lupo approached the first project, she didn't reprimand the scientist for clutter, or anything for that matter.

Zane watched her from across the room, and from what he could see, she was acting, well, civil. When she finished observing a demonstration, she would nod at the profusely-sweating scientist and tap away on her tablet. Often times she would even shake hands with the person.

Her calm and, god forbid, encouraging behavior seemed to be shocking everyone. As she moved from project to project, her previous interviewees would look after her with a bemused, yet pleasantly surprised expression. As one scientist scratched his head in complete bewilderment, Zane noted how ironic it was that such educated and advanced experts in a multitude of scientific fields could so easily resemble monkeys. But before he could finish conjuring up an image of GD being overrun with insect-consuming, poo-flinging scientists, he heard Lupo's voice in his vicinity.

She was at the second-to-last project, Dr. Novik's, the one before his. Well, Parrish's really, since Zane was prohibited from running any of his own experiments. So what if he constantly pulled pranks on fellow employees and imagined GD as a monkey-infested jungle? He was… mature… and…

Zane cleared his throat and decided instead to focus on what Dr. Novik was saying to the Enforcer.

"The AKT activation is driven by membrane localization initiated by the binding of the plekstrin homology domain to phosphatidylinositol-3,4,5-triphosphate or phosphatidylinositol-3,4-diphosphate, followed by phosphorylation of the regulatory amino acids serine 473 and threonine 308, and the-"

At this point, Lupo finally interjected: "Dr. Novik, you're talking to someone without a PhD. Could you please tone down the super science technical jargon?"

Even Zane had gotten rather lost. As Dr. Novik began to explain the process again in simpler (thank God) terms, Zane watched Lupo. She was listening intently and keenly observing as the good doctor motioned to different portions of her contraption. Jo then nodded, looking over the entire machine, eyes flitting from part to part, and he could see the cogs turning inside her head.

He smiled to himself. Even though she might not have a PhD, Lupo sure was bright. She could understand anything if it was properly explained to her, and then immediately afterwards she comprehended it and applied it like she had been learning about particle physics or neurology her entire life. And she didn't need it explained in Carter's "black hole equals bad" terms. It was something Zane had always admired about Jo.

Wow, so they were on a first name basis now? They'd been through enough catastrophes together that he figured it was at least acceptable in his thoughts. Jo. It was a pretty name…

"Is the uh, phosphorylation a dangerous process?" she finally asked.

"Well since protein kinase is the-"

"DOCTOR NOVIK."

"Sorry," she winced. "No, it's completely harmless."

"Well as long as nothing's exploding, I'm a happy camper. How long do you need to complete the project?"

"Well I'm expected to end in two and a half weeks," Dr. Novik stated nervously as she wrung her hands. That clearly wasn't enough time. Zane braced himself for the impending storm.

"I asked how long you needed."

Wait, what?

"Well, I would need…" (this time she wisely calculated the steps of her experiment internally) "a month."

"Then I'll see you in a month. How does…" Lupo clicked her tablet screen a couple times and then finished, "September 4th at 10:30am sound?"

"I – I, uhm, yes, that would be nice."

"Good. You'll get a reminder a week prior. Great work so far."

Then she smiled and walked away. Smiled. And walked away. No fire and brimstone sermon on how deadlines had to be met or genitalia were on the line. No death glares. No threats of unemployment. Just a smile. Granted, it wasn't a toothy, full-on grin, but it lit up her features nonetheless… Jesus, when did he get so sappy?

Dr. Novik smiled back and managed a faint, "Thanks," looking so relieved that it's a shock Rolaids weren't involved. As Jo walked away, Dr. Novik gazed after the ever-mystifying Enforcer with the epitome of bewildered looks. What was next, free puppies, rainbows, and hugs?

Zane couldn't stop himself from staring at Jo as she tapped away on her tablet, fingers adeptly sliding across the screen. She was so… commanding. With the power suit and the ponytail and the heels… how did she manage to walk so damn fast in those things? But this was a side he'd never seen before. It's almost as if she was avoiding intimidating people. Hah. As if.

Still, he couldn't help but picture her as a secretly vulnerable woman underneath that rock solid exterior. Like one of those chocolates that you bite into without knowing what you'll get inside. She certainly looked sweet enough. From her shiny brown hair to her deep hazel eyes to her perfectly-plumped lips to her smokin' hot bo-

"If you're done ogling our soon-to-be executioner Donavan, I suggest you prepare the drive for our demonstration."

Zane shot Parrish a scowl, but absent-mindedly set up the preparations for the FTL drive. As he did so, he thought more about Jo's recent behavior. She had been acting a wee bit peculiar as of late. As of Founder's Day, that is. Something about marrying him…

Zane was dragged back to reality when he realized that Jo was actually standing right in front of their table, ready for a demonstration. He suddenly felt nervous. But why? The FTL was coming along fine. Huh, weird.

"Okay so, the FTL drive. Show me what you've got."

"Anytime, Lupo," Zane retorted with an accompanying wink.

But she just rolled her eyes and looked expectantly at Parrish. Damn, she was tough. That was a good wink.

"Well, the FTL drive uses a method of stretching space in a wave which causes the fabric of space ahead of an object to contract, and the space behind it to expand. The object then rides this wave inside a region, a warp bubble, of flat space. Since the object is not moving within this bubble, but carried along as the region itself moves, conventional relativistic effects do not apply, and therefore the object can move at a speed faster than light."

With that, Parrish motioned to Zane to turn on the device, and when he did, it hummed and glowed a light blue color. Zane did an internal fist pump when it didn't spark or shut itself off.

"Cool," Jo mused.

"Totally." Zane couldn't stop himself from grinning. Jo Lupo thought science was cool? It was, but wow. He never would've guessed it.

Jo noticed Zane was smiling at her, and if he wasn't mistaken, he noticed her cheeks flush. She swallowed, looked back at Parrish, and asked, "Is it faulty in any way?"

Did his smile just disarm her? He shouldn't get so excited about that; for once, he couldn't seem to form words. Luckily, Parrish responded.

"It's completely foolproof."

Jo snorted and remarked bitterly, "Nothing's completely foolproof unless it's Larry-proof."

Zane chuckled, and even Parrish's lips quirked upwards.

"How is that coming along, by the way? The house, I mean."

Jo's eyes flicked over to Zane, and she failed at hiding the look of astonishment, probably in relation to her surprise that he was capable of directing sentences towards her that did not revolve around science, insults, or shameless flirting. At that, Zane felt a small pang of guilt, especially since this was the first time that Jo had really acknowledged his existence since Founder's Day. At least he didn't blow her house up.

"It's going great actually. They're scheduled to be finished next Friday."

Before Zane could slip in the comment that it would be his pleasure to thoroughly inspect the layout of her new bedroom, she re-focused all of them.

"Speaking of schedules, when do you expect to complete this project?"

"The FTL drive will be ready for field testing by the end of next week," Parrish stated confidently. "And we can have it transported to the proper location, so a secondary inspection is unnecessary."

"Getting Fargo off my back for at least one of these projects will be a nice house-warming gift," Jo remarked. Zane was extremely tempted to explain to Jo how he could do a much better job at warming her up, but held his tongue because the day had been going so well. Also because he, like most people, enjoyed having his tongue attached to his mouth and notbeing hacked off with a Special Forces knife that Jo probably had concealed somewhere on her person.

"Keep up the good work, gentlemen." And with that, she left. As the doors slid closed behind her, Parrish turned to Zane with a quizzical look on his face.

"Did that just happen?"

Zane shrugged, but noted, "There's something different about her, I just don't know what." Parrish stared at Zane with unnerving intensity, making him shift uneasily.

Had Zane said that in too dreamily a tone?

"What are you looking at?" he grumbled. But Parrish just smiled and turned back to his work.

"Oh stop it. I don't like her. C'mon, she's the Enforcer for crying out loud!" Parrish shot Zane an unconvinced look and what could only be classified as a sassy "I'm sure."

Please. Him and Jo Lupo? As if. He hated her! And she reciprocated! Right? He couldn't like her. No. He didn't.

…did he?

* * *

><p><em>AN: If you remember anything you learned in biology, Dr. Novik's experiment is actually complete bull shit! It's something about cancer that I just Googled so I could stick in some science gobbledygook. So uh, just try to overlook the details of that. Also the FTL drive explanation here I got from good ol' Wikipedia on a page about the Alcubierre drive, which still deals with faster than light travel, so I think it counts. Not sure if it makes sense because the article only applied it to ships, but whatever. It's science._


	6. The Zane Files

**The Zane Files**

Jo sat in her office wither her right hand propping her head up, and the fingers of her left drumming atop her desk. _Budduhdump. Budduhdump. _Today was Friday. _Budduhdump. _Movie night._ Budduhdump. _She and Zane used to curl up under a nice fuzzy blanket with some popcorn…_ Budduhdump. _Mmm. Buttery goodness._ Budduhdump. _Of course, the snuggling usually took precedence over snacks._ Budduhdump. _And the movie._ Budduhdump. _And this form of snuggling wasn't exactly PG._ Budduhdump. _They'd wake up the next morning to a disaster zone, with popcorn strewn across the floor and smushed into the deepest crevices of the couch.

She abruptly sat up. Oh god. She needed to stop this perpetual nostalgia. Breathe out the feelings, Jo. Breathe _out _the feelings. Out. Out. Out. Ou-

This was pointless. He was hanging around her neck. Hell, he was hanging around GD in his dark wash skinny jeans and four-sizes-too-small v-necks. Well, not him_. _Other him; they weren't the same person. Were they? No, most definitely not. ThisZane could never love her. Just look at his record! She pulled up his file, even though she'd already committed it to memory after the second viewing. She opened the "Offenses" portion, looking at the first entry:

_1) Stealing 3.1 million dollars from the United States Border Patrol account for drug interdiction. _

Ah, that fateful deed. Jo smiled as she thought of the Spadaro fund. It was amazing how devoted Zane was to that little old lady, and to everything he was passionate about. Sure he didn't go about the conventional route of showing his loyalties, but the care was behind it if you took the time to look. And she had taken the time – three years to be exact.

She continued to scan some of his other misdemeanors: indecent exposure during one of Mansfield's visits, setting the monkeys from the primate testing lab free on the anniversary of Jane Goodall's birth, wait, what was that in the bottom left corner? There appeared to be some sort of link on the page that Jo had missed before. When she clicked it and read the contents, her heart fluttered. Inside was a description of the previous year's Valentine's Day: other Jo had come to work only to find her office jam-packed with 173 bouquets of various flowers, roses littering the remaining floor space, and her speakers continuously looping "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion, all courtesy of Zane. Naturally, other Jo had taken this to great offense and personally slapped the cuffs on Zane and dragged him to the Sheriff's Office. But this Jo, she would have slapped those cuffs on and dragged him to the nearest maintenance closet to have her way with him.

Even if it was just meant to be another prank, another attempt to get under Jo's skin, she couldn't help but feel all warm and mushy inside. Her Zane had never done anything like that for her, and if that's what this Zane was capable of when they weren'tin a relationship… Jo's heart sped up to an unnatural tempo. And by the looks of this relatively hidden link, maybe other Jo was just as moved as she was; she'd cloaked it so no one else could share in the experience and no one else could revel in the underlying romance of it all.

But she was getting a little bit ahead of herself. Still, maybe she should give this Zane another chance. Just as she began considering ways to break the news to Zane ("Hi, I'm actually not the Jo Lupo you've known for the past three years, I'm from another timeline where we were almost engaged! Let's be friends!" seemed a little too blunt), her phone buzzed. She pulled it out and answered, "Lupo."

"Jo, hey, it's Fargo. Can you come up to Grace's lab? It's kind of urgent."

"On my way", Jo said as she stepped through her door and into the hallway. Scientists still parted like the Red Sea for her, but she noticed now that they seemed to gaze at her with looks of awe and admiration on their faces, like at any moment they would drop to the ground and kiss her feet. Maybe this whole being nice thing wasn't such a good idea after all. When she finally made it to Grace's lab, Fargo, Carter, Allison, and Henry were huddled in a circle around something, urgently arguing.

"What's up?"

Their heads all whipped around at the sound of her voice, since they had apparently not heard her come in. They all took a step back and Jo finally saw the source of their heated discussion: an unconscious Grace slumped in her chair. Jo's eyes grew wide in terror and she quickly stepped in to close the circle once more. "What's going on? Is she okay?"

Henry attempted to reply calmly, but the panic seeped through into his voice: "Grace and I were attempting to share more memories with her adapted PTSD interface" he indicated to the device attached below his earlobe, "but when she attempted to increase the data flow on her device, it shorted out and she just… collapsed." Allison was running a scanner over Grace's torso, while Carter threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly.

"Can't we just un-increase the flow?"

Allison looked up from her scanning. "I think the word you're looking for is 'decrease', honey."

Jo walked over to Grace's control board with Fargo close behind, and they both examined it.

"Any of you know what these controls do?" Jo asked.

Henry sighed while Allison just shook her head.

"Grace is the expert in this field." Henry said quietly as he stroked her hand, watching as her eyes flitted back and forth beneath her closed lids.

Jo grimaced and looked back at the board, eyes searching for anything that could reverse the effects. A touch screen display caught her eye, and she gingerly touched a button that looked like a down arrow key. Maybe it would decrease the data flow?

Immediately, the board and PTSD devices sparked, as Henry winced and Grace's eyes flew open. She immediately sat up, and when she saw Henry, the brightest of smiles lit up her face as they kissed and hugged. Carter and Allison laughed gleefully, while Jo and Fargo exchanged relieved glances.

"You all know what this means," Carter said excitedly. "Impromptu celebratory lunch at Café Diemmmm!" As the group merrily strode down to the diner, Jo sighed in relief. At least the daily crisis was averted.

* * *

><p>As Jo walked out of the bathroom at Café Diem after the conclusion of her impromptu lunch celebration, Zane cornered her into the alcove where no one was seated, and no one could see them. He got so close that she backed into the wall, with the hair on her neck standing straight up as he leaned in and blocked her escape route by placing one hand on the wall next to her head.<p>

"Hey JoJo."

She nearly gasped. "Ho-how did you..?"

He grinned one of his thousand watt grins and shrugged. "I know you hate it."

She released the breath she didn't realize she was holding, and stared into those penetrating eyes of his.

"What do you want?"

Zane ignored her inquiry and instead began to twirl a piece of her ponytail between his fingers. "Are you doing your hair differently?"

"…No."

"Well it looks nice." And with that he dipped in as if he was about to kiss her, but pulled away at the last minute and turned to leave, sending her one of his trademark winks before he left the café.

Jo stood up straight, smoothing her jacket and running one hand over her not-newly-styled hair in an attempt to compose herself. Zane had finally managed to get some one-on-one time with her for the first time since Founder's Day and the only thing he could think to do was compliment her hair? Jo wondered if her heart could take any more of this superficial flirting.

Judging by the rate it was beating, probably not.

* * *

><p><em>AN: My computer's spell check is now aware that "smushed" is a legitimate word. Today = success._

_TBC._


	7. Closure

_So this has kind of a lot of dialogue from the actual episode, but yeah. It's because Eureka is already so great! And also not mine._

* * *

><p><strong>Closure<strong>

Once Jo returned to GD, a tour group was dumped on her. She didn't have anything againstkids, but she'd learned over the years that dealing with the offspring of geniuses could be quite a frustrating experience. Oh, and General Mansfield was coming along with her? Great. And just as her tour was about to conclude and she thought things were finally looking up, over walked Zane.

After his weird experience with Jo during inspections, Zane needed to figure some things out. She hadn't really been acting like herself lately, and he needed answers. He needed to see if the real Jo Lupo was lying in wait to pounce on a poor, unsuspecting Zane at any moment, or if there was something strange going on with her and the other four.

He saw his chance as she led a Tesla tour group through the rotunda. He mustered up his most obnoxious smirk and sauntered over, intercepting them before they could exit GD.

"Why hello there my wonderfully exquisite Enforcer. How's the tour going?"

"We were just finishing," she said shortly as she tried to swerve around Zane, but he stepped in front of her.

"I'm sure you could think of something else to show them. What about demonstrating how handcuffs work? Unless of course," he leaned in, "you want to do that in a more privatesetting. I'm sensing a lot of unfilled sexual appetite from you. I could most definitely assist with that."

Jo's face flushed in embarrassment and she clenched her jaw before hissing, "Zane!"

He glanced over at Mansfield, who looked so outraged that he couldn't even form words, but Zane pushed onward. He had to make sure. "Oh come now, I'm sure the kids are fine with all this." He squatted down until he was eye level with a young boy, about six or so, and asked, "Haven't you heard about the birds and the bees? If not, Ms. Lupo and I would be very happy to show you."

"DONOVAN!" Mansfield bellowed, "I suggest you leave nowbefore I personally tow you back to prison!" With that, Zane stood and quickly walked back to his lab.

He felt the adrenaline pumping through his system; that was definitely much too rash and much too risky. But he needed answers about Jo, and he had gotten them. The real Jo Lupo would have tackled Zane to the ground and tazed the life out of his testicles, regardless of whether or not they were in front of a group of children. But this Jo, whoever she was, had only looked completely abashed, not angry, and Mansfield had to be the one to fly off the hook. Zane cursed himself. If Jo was turning over a new leaf, he had just thrown his chances of being on her good side out the window! But what if she wasn't turning over a new leaf? What if there was a completely different aspect to this that Zane was missing? Either way, he had mortified and disrespected her, which made him feel like the worst human being on the planet. Why did he always have to do that? He resolved to apologize, but realized that he also needed to address the changes he'd been noticing lately in her, Carter, Dr. Blake, Dr. Deacon, Fargo, and maybe even Dr. Monroe. He began preparing what he was going to say. _"Hey Jo, we need to talk…"_

* * *

><p>As Jo rounded the corner after her fabulous tour group experience, she nearly collided with Zane. She suppressed a growl, and instead grounded out "What could you possibly want?"<p>

"I missed you. And I'm loving the power suits by the way, verrrry sexy."

This flirting was getting out of hand. She knew Zane had the tendency to philander, but doing so to the point where it jeopardized her authority was unacceptable.

She halted her walking and turned to face Zane in a fluid motion. "You know what, I am done with your mind games."

Zane pretend pouted and asked, "Awww, what's wrong JoJo?"

"You're sadistic. You hit on me on an extremely inappropriate level in front of Mansfield and that entire tour group! We had to call Fargo down to take care of them so we could have a nice little chatabout "appropriate behavior in the workplace" and "keeping my scientists under control." Thanks to you, he thinks I'm incompetent!" she fumed.

It was then that Fargo decided to walk up with his hand weirdly hovering in the air. "Jo, the tour just ended. I thought all the tour kids were gone!"

She squinted at him. "They areall gone Fargo. Now if you don't mind, Zane and I are kind of in the middle of something," she said as she turned back to face him.

Fargo followed Jo's gaze, and it was his turn to squint until a look of realization dawned on his face and he smacked his forehead as if he couldn't believe he'd missed something. "Jo? I think we're hallucinating. It's happening to Carter and Allison too."

Great. Just what Jo needed. Another Zane. "Well let's call Henry so we can figure out how to get rid of all… this" she said, gesturing to the apparently fake Zane in front of her.

Fargo began to dial Henry's number when Jo suddenly remembered him mentioning the tour group.

"Wait, you're hallucinating… a kid?"

He turned to look at the empty space next to him, and after staring at it for a second, he seemed to have another epiphany. No wonder he was the head of GD, Fargo seemed to have an incredible amount of "Eureka!" moments.

"Doh! You're my 5th grade nemesis!" he said, pointing his finger accusingly at the nothingness to his left. Jo raised her eyebrows at him questioningly, and was extremely glad that no one else was walking down the hallway. Having a rumor spread that Fargo talked to his imaginary childhood antagonizer would not suit GD well.

Oblivious to the fact that people could possibly walk by at any moment, Fargo blurted, "Jessica Lansky!" with his finger still jabbing the air.

Jo smirked and raised her eyebrow. "You got bullied by a girl?"

Fargo frowned and opened his mouth to respond when he was cut off by Henry's "Hello? Sorry I couldn't answer right away, I was just talking with Jack and Allison."

"About the hallucinations? What's the deal?" Fargo asked.

"Something about the power surge when Jo saved Grace amplified the signal from our neural interfaces. Since Grace and my neuropathways were already linked, we were unaffected, but your brains conjured up people to share your experiences with."

"Yes, yes," Jo said exasperatedly, "but how do we get rid of them?"

"Grace says that hallucinations are manifestations of our fears and insecurities, and since the technology was designed for therapeutic purposes, you have to work past the issues with the person you're imagining."

Fan-frikkin'-tastic.

* * *

><p>Four hallucinogenic-filled hours later, Jo walked into her office when she noticed a familiar muscular form leaning against the wall outside her door. She groaned. Did he have to appear everywhere?<p>

"You have gotto stop doing that."

"Doing what?" He shook his head and continued, "I just need to talk to you about something."

"Oh what is it now? You wanna tell me how nice my ass looks when I'm holding a gun?"

"Well you do have a nice ass but I-"

That was the final straw. Fake Zane had been applying pressure to Jo like a balloon slowly being blown up. All day he'd been huffing and puffing while Jo silently continued to fill, but this comment was that last puff of air that made her pop. She needed to get this over with.

"Okay, you wanna have it out? Fine. The truth is… I have to get over you. Right now I'm seeing you," she jabbed a finger into his chest, "myZane, but it has to stop. I can't live the rest of my life dreaming about what we could have been, because we weresomething. We were something great. And no matter how much I cry, no matter how much I whine, no matter how much I curse Grant and what he did, it's not going to change anything. I'm here now in this reality, and I'll be damned if you stop me from pursuing some happiness. I just can't carry you around my neck any more."

She pulled out the chain from underneath her shirt, unhooking the ring from it. Then she took fake Zane's hand, and placed it in his palm. "If I do, you'll just drag me down. That's not what you want is it? To see me suffer?"

Jo felt her eyes brimming with tears, but held his gaze and refused to cry. Enough tears had been shed over this already. She closed his fingers around the ring, keeping hers resting on top, her voice dropping to nearly a whisper, "I'll always carry you in my heart, but you have to let me go."

She gave him a small smile, with all her previous anger flooding out of her body. "Goodbye Zane. I love you." And after placing a soft kiss on his cheek, she walked into her office and shut the door.

Once she sat down in her chair, a wave of relief hit Jo. She had just killed two birds with one stone - a very expensive, very pretty stone. Her hallucinations were over, and she finally felt… okay. Legitimately okay. Maybe that closure stuff wasn't so overrated after all.

* * *

><p>Zane blinked. What the hellhad just happened? He stood there unmoving and unthinking until he felt something piercing his palm. He slowly uncurled his fingers, and there it sat: his grandmother's ring. Again: what the hell? Something strange was definitely going on.<p>

Very strange indeed.


	8. Revelations

_I don't own Eureka, and if I did, I wouldn't have set up this idiotic idea of Zoe and Zane being happy little lovebirds. No offense writers, we can still be friends. But not you Syfy. Not you._

* * *

><p><strong>Revelations<strong>

It was a bright Saturday morning when Jo stepped out of her newly constructed house. She locked the door behind her and then went to skim her hand appreciatively over her shiny black mailbox. As she walked around to the driver's side of her sedan, she put Zoe's big box of "little things" into the back seat, and then rested her arms on the roof of her car, admiring her new abode. Painted a forest green with white trim, two stories, a lush garden, and a shooting range in the basement just like she wanted, Jo was extremely pleased with it. And hey, a new house, a new beginning.

She got into her car, buckling up and turning her key in the ignition, enjoying the rumbling of the engine. Everything seemed to make Jo happy today. Because today she was going to fly out to see Zoe. Today, everything was going right.

Today was a good day.

* * *

><p>Zane paced back and forth in his living room. He glanced at the clock: 11:00am, on the dot. He was functioning on no sleep and three Vinspressos since the "situation" with Jo yesterday afternoon. Amidst all his pacing and trips to the bathroom, he'd narrowed down the state of affairs to only one plausible explanation: she and the others had gone back to 1947 and returned to a changed timeline. Well, when he said plausible...<p>

But it had to be! It was the only explanation that made any sense. He'd gone through a log of the past four weeks, the only notable actions being the termination of the Town Historian, a Dr. Charles Grant, and the forbiddance of further experimentation on the Bridge Device. Zane vaguely remembered Dr. Grant, with his suave style and old-fashioned manners. He seemed to always be in intense discussions with Henry and Allison, or procuring many a jealous look from Carter. In fact, he had left the same day Zane had seen him having a group discussion with those three and Jo and Fargo - only three days after he'd arrived in town. Under such strange circumstances, Zane had done multiple facial recognition searches of this "Charles Grant" and initially found no results. So naturally, he'd hacked his way in with Fargo's username and password (maybe he would apologize later), and found a facial match to a one Dr. Trevor Grant, who had gone missing in 1947. Verrrry interesting.

And the Bridge Device? Zane had done his homework on that; it was developed by Grant and Einstein to be used for connecting distant points in space-time. But it had never worked…or had it? He stopped in front of his whiteboard, where he'd scribbled numerous equations. He ran his fingers through his hair - was this actually possible? Time travel? If so, wow. This was incredible! A hugestep towards the future of scientific discovery!

Of course, military protocol states that anyone who has seen the future or affected history is inherently dangerous, and any violators are to be isolated and sanctioned. Zane froze. Jo being sanctioned? That was bad. Bad bad bad ba- ouch! Zane swore under his breath. When did that coffee table get there? He rubbed his shin and picked up an empty Rocky Road container; two tubs of ice cream and fourteen hours later, he had his answer.

Time travel.

* * *

><p>Jo stood anxiously at the arrival gate, waiting for Zoe to pick her up. She fiddled with her bag strap. What if Zoe didn't accept her? The new her? What if sh-<p>

Her fears were soon dispelled when she was suddenly tackled by a small, squealing object. It was Zoe, giving her the biggest bear hug possible for a 5'4" woman. Jo hugged her back with equal enthusiasm, allowing all of her previous apprehension to flow out of her body. Zoe took a step back and held Jo out at arm's length, looking her over.

"Wow Jo, you're even more of a bombshell than before!"

Jo laughed. "Well look at you! Look at your hair!"

Zoe touched it self-consciously. "What do you think? I thought since I was going to college, I might as well get a fresh start."

Jo beamed. "I love it. And I'm all about fresh starts right now" she said, giving Zoe a telling look.

Zoe nodded her head in understanding and smiled, pulling on Jo's hand and dragging her towards baggage claim. "Let's get going! We have _so _much to talk about."

* * *

><p>As Zoe chucked Jo's bag into the trunk of her car, she noticed Jo holding Fargo's box of goodies. She cocked her head to one side. "What's in there?"<p>

Jo placed it gently in the trunk – was there anything fragile in it? If so, it had probably been broken on the flight over. Jo hoped not. "Well, you seem to have a little admirer back home," she drawled, sliding into the passenger's seat.

As Zoe buckled in on the driver's side, she seemed to be attempting to conceal her excitement. "Doug?" she asked innocently.

Jo grinned – this was just too cute! "Doug, huh? What's going on with you guys?"

Zoe shifted in her seat and then started to explain: "After what happened on Founder's Day, I called him up to see what he was like, you know, to stay in the loop. Then we got to talking, and it turns out we have a lot in common. So we kind of Holoskype four times a week and send each other care packages every once in a while." After she'd finished, she looked over at Jo with that cute little expression she always got when talking about boys.

But it didn't take Jo's fine-tuned Special Forces observation skills to notice that she seemed more invested in this one than her other harmless crushes.

"I have noticed that he's had a little more of a spring in his step lately. At first I thought it was just his promotion and collection of little Fargo bobble heads, but now…" She trailed off, but not much had to be left to the imagination. It was pretty obvious.

Zoe glanced over at Jo. "Really?" She then suddenly got an inquiring look in her eye. "Enough about me, what about you? And Zane?" she asked as they pulled up to the nearby Sasha Salon and Spa.

"Mmm, well that's more of a conversation for when we're nice and sweaty in the steam room."

"Well when you put it thatway…"

So once they'd checked in for their reservation, settled down in the steam room, and Jo felt sufficiently relaxed, she began.

"It all started when he managed to get a hold of your dad's credit card number…"

* * *

><p>After telling what seemed like her life story over the course of the steam room, mani-pedis, and Shangri-La facials, Jo had finally finished. When they walked into her hotel room, Jo put down her suitcase while Zoe plopped onto the bed. She bit her lip like she always did when she was concentrating, her brain processing everything Jo had just told her.<p>

"Whatcha thinking about?" Jo asked, pulling a chair over so she could sit in front of Zoe.

Zoe sat up to face Jo, and with a twinkle in her eye, she said: "I think you should give Zane another chance."

Jo raised her eyebrow skeptically.

"I mean, why not? It was obvious that he was physically attracted to other Jo, but nothing could ever come out of it because she didn't think he could clean up his act. And she was scared of commitment."

Well didn't that sound familiar.

"But I could tell by the way other you talked about him that she liked him. I mean really, he's smart, he's funny, and that Valentine's Day thing? I mean wow."

Jo smiled. "I guess he is kind of irresistible, huh?"

"Plus, he's totallyhot."

"Zoe!" Jo smacked her playfully on the knee.

"Aha! You're protective of him already! That's it! The gods have spoken! You were meantto be together." She stood up on the bed and then proclaimed, "ATTENTION WORLD: JO LUPO AND ZANE DONOVAN ARE DESTINED FOR EACH OTHER. THEY WILL HAVE LOTS OF LITTLE PRETTY BABIES AND ALL OF MANKIND WILL SEE THEIR PERFECTION."

Jo smacked Zoe with a pillow and after a brief fluffy, feather-filled scuffle, they both bounced down, laughing. Zoe turned to face Jo.

"But really, Jo, I think you should try to at leastbefriend him. In the past you were just reluctant to make the first move. But you should take the initiative. I don't think you'd regret it."

Jo laid back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "I'll think about it."

"Good."

* * *

><p>Two fabulously relaxing days later, Jo and Zoe stood at the gate for Portland in the airport.<p>

"Ugh, do I haveto go back? I was really enjoying all of the facials."

"Please, you've already been gone long enough – they need you. If you stayed here for another day, Eureka just might explode!"

Jo smiled and hugged Zoe one last time before she had to get on her plane.

Zoe hugged her back tightly. "Remember what I said, my young grasshopper."

"Yes, master," Jo replied with fake solemnity and a slight bow.

"And I'll be checking up on you! I'm very excited to hear how this progresses," Zoe said with an almost mischievous grin on her face.

Jo laughed and then got in line to board.

As the plane took off, she looked out the window. Taking initiative. Jo had always been good at that in Special Forces and her career. And now… with Zane?

Yes, with Zane.


	9. Many Happy Returns

**Many Happy Returns**

Zane distractedly made adjustments to the Sky Cruiser's fuel tank. Jo was getting back today. After routinely looking up from his project every five minutes on Sunday in the hopes that Jo might be walking by to check on him, he'd finally decided to ask Carter when she was going to return. For the sake of his work efficiency, and his neck muscles. At first Carter had raised his eyebrows at Zane, who then rambled on about only wanting her arrival date so he could know how long he had to work in peace before she came back. A big smile then grew on the Sheriff's face and he gave Zane a knowing look, but still told Zane her arrival date. That man was too damn perceptive for his own good.

He finished up the adjustment he'd been working on and looked out into the hallway for the nth time that day. It was a good thing Jo was back today, maybe she could instill some order after all the recent events. It was crazy out there as people pushed from both directions. Everyone had been freaking out ever since the redwoods had materialized in the rotunda. And now the fighter plane in Café Diem? With the threat of another materialization happening anywhere, GD was a madhouse.

Luckily for him, at that moment he spotted Jo making her way through the crowd.

Zane ran out of the lab after her: "Lupo! Lupo, I need to talk to you!" She didn't seem to hear him over the din of the hallway traffic and just kept pressing through. But Zane was persistent. "Hey! JO!"

She finally stopped and looked around, eventually locking eyes with him. When he managed to catch up to her, he stepped right into her personal space. "We need to talk."

"Now? I'm kind of in the middle of trying to figure out why fighter planes and trees are popping out of the ground like gnomes."

"Hey, I can walk and talk at the same time. You clearly underestimate my talents, Josephina."

She smacked him in the gut somewhat playfully, but Zane was pretty sure the only reason he didn't have a bruise forming was because of his rock solid abs.

"Don't. Call me that," she growled. Nevertheless, she motioned him to follow her towards the elevator.

When they stepped inside and the doors closed, Jo heaved a sigh of relief. "Finally some peace and quiet."

She rubbed her temples. This probably wasn't the best welcome home party she could have received, but Zane needed to say this now. So he reached over and pushed the emergency break, causing the elevator to come to a stop.

Jo snapped her head up and turned to Zane. "What are you doing?"

Zane ignored her question. "You should probably engage the sonic protocols now."

She looked at him warily but then flipped open an access panel and typed in her code. She turned back towards him, crossing her arms. "It's safe. Now what's this all about?"

Zane took a deep breath. Here goes nothing. "I know now for a fact that you, Carter, Allison, Henry, and Fargo went back in time to 1947." She gasped but he held up his hand to stop her from saying anything, and continued.

"I also know that you brought back Dr. TrevorGrant but that he skipped town, probably because he would have given you guys away. I know that you used the Bridge Device to go there and to come back, but that you somehow arrived in a different timeline. I'm not exactly sure what changed for everyone else, but for you…" Zane swallowed. "You lost me. Well, a different me. Something must have happened to you on Friday because you started talking to me about us "being something" and how I had to "let you go". And then - then you gave me my grandmother's ring, Jo!"

At this point, Jo was completely horrified and looked as if she might actually be sick. But Zane couldn't stop, he hadto finish, he hadto know that this was the truth. "I went back and I checked my safety deposit box, and myring was still there! The only way you could have gotten the exact same one is if a different me from a different timeline gave it to you! I just, I mean," he ran his hand through his hair and then motioned between them, "we were engaged! Engaged!"

And there it was again, that look from the Café. Zane fidgeted uncomfortably. He could deal with pissed off Jo. He could deal with exasperated Jo. He could deal with heartless bitch Jo. But this… this… sad Jo. Zane didn't like it. He didn't like it at all.

Jo stared down at the floor. "We weren't engaged."

"What?"

"I… I never said yes. Leave it to me to blank out at the worst possible time," she muttered dryly.

Zane smacked his forehead – of course! "That explains what happened on Founder's Day in the jail. It all makes sense now!"

Jo met his eyes again, but this time hers were filled with fear. "Are you going to tell anyone?"

"No, no of course not." He said quickly. "I actually erased all of my searches and Grant's file completely, and I covered up any apparent connection that the Bridge Device would have with the five of you." Zane winced. In hindsight, he probably should have mentioned that sooner instead of causing Jo to have a mini heart attack.

"I didn't mean to scare you, and I know I was a total jackass during that tour but I just wanted to know the truth."

He watched as her face transitioned from scared to relaxed to determined. Zane felt as if her eyes were boring into his soul and he almost had to take a step back since her gaze was so intense. She held her eyes there for a minute, then nodded at him. "Want to help me check out our newest development in the case of randomly surfacing objects?"

Zane was taken aback. "But I- but you- but…what?" That was definitely not the response he had been expecting.

"You can either stay here, antagonizing the other four with your findings, or you can prove to me that you are something otherthan a conceited, annoying jackass who likes to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. Your choice."

She crossed her arms and continued to stare at him, now with an unreadable expression on her face. It wasn't the emotionless Enforcer expression, it was something he couldn't decipher. Zane took in a deep breath. Now or never, she was giving him the option. She was giving him a second chance, just like no one had ever bothered to do.

"Where are we going?"

* * *

><p>As they started driving, Jo turned on her car radio, changing the station until she was satisfied with the song. Zane listened for a second until he was hit with a realization.<p>

"Burning Down the House? I love the Talking Heads!" He then proceeded to bob his head in time with the music and belt out, "Hold tight, wait 'till the party's over! Hold tight, we're in for nasty weather! There! Has! Got! To! Be! A! Way! Burning down the house!"

Jo observed Zane's antics for a bit until she couldn't restrain herself any longer and let out a hearty laugh.

Jo's laugh was like music to Zane's ears. No seriously, it made him so excited that he just wanted to jump up and dance. It was a rare and beautiful sound that made his insides tingle. Her laugh made him laugh. Most importantly, her laugh touched him (hey, they say music touches you right?); it touched him in the most secluded place, the part of him that feared commitment and feared feeling like he belonged. Jo's laugh, and hell, just Jo in general for that matter, made Zane want to settle down and to find his place in this big, scary world. He wanted to dive headfirst into the waters of relationships and tread water like no other.

Once her laughter had subsided and Zane had composed himself, Jo playfully scolded him with a twinkle in her eye: "Just don't get any ideas; I've already lost one house this year."

Zane feigned innocence, placing his hand over his heart. "Who, little ol' me? Well Jo Lupo, I would never. I stick strictly to simple pranks."

"Riiight, because stealing 3.1 million dollars from border patrol was all just a big joke," she drawled.

"Touché." He paused, then looked over at Jo. "You know a lot about me, don't you." It wasn't really a question.

Her face darkened, suddenly serious. After thinking to herself for a moment she blurted out, "Why though? What's with all the pranks?" her voice filled with exasperation.

Zane turned his head towards his feet, but Jo began to answer herself anyways. "Do you think that superficial gags will prevent people from digging deeper? It's almost as if you don't want anyone discovering that there might just be a good guy beneath that snarky exterior."

She'd begun to grip the steering wheel so intensely that her knuckles were fading to white. "Or maybe you just wanted to get my – well, other me's – attention? Oh, well, since big bad Jo is in law enforcement, the onlyway to reach her must be by forcing her to whip out the handcuffs!"

Zane gaped at her. What was she, a mind reader? He'd always thought there was no other way with Jo. She never wanted to associate with him because he was a "criminal," so the only way he could get her to acknowledge him was by yup, you guessed it, causing more problems. So the more he messed up, the more she had to deal with him, but by the same token it meant she got even more pissed at him. It was like a never ending cycle of suck. Maybe he'd been wrong all along though. Maybe Jo – this Jo, that Jo, whatever – just wanted him to mend his ways. His response was full of sincerity.

"I'm sorry, Jo."

Her face immediately softened and her grip of death on the wheel loosened. She looked over at him for as long was safe for her to keep her eyes off the road, and seeing his expression of utter remorse, something seemed to shift in her. "Well, maybe I don't know _you_ so well."

Was that an invitation? Zane looked back up at her, with a little ball of hope starting to grow inside of him. "Well maybe we should change that."

As Jo pulled up to a fence with a warning sign on it, she took the keys out of the ignition and turned to face him, with what Zane thought was a small smile. "Maybe we shou-"

They were interrupted by a sudden explosion off in the grass. They both jumped out of the car and walked quickly towards the fence. Zane looked at the sign more closely.

"Oh great, a minefield."

Jo craned her neck around, attempting to get a better look through the fence's openings. "What set it off?"

Zane pulled out his scanner, checking the readings. He frowned. "Hmm, the radiation levels are fluctuating at pretty high levels. This whole area is unstable." He flipped his scanner shut. "I have the data, so we should head back to GD. Who knows how safe it is out here."

As they turned back towards the car, Jo mused, "Yeah, we'd better get out of here before something else ha-" Jo was cut off again, but this time there was no explosion and she collapsed to the ground. Zane ran over and quickly dropped down next to her, checking for a pulse.

"Jo? JO!"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Don't you just love it when the characters on TV shows are driving and then they decide to look at the passenger for ages while they're talking? It just kind of bothers me because I keep expecting them to get into an accident or something. But maybe I'm just nitpicking._


	10. Shot Through the Heart

**Shot Through the Heart**

Zane paced nervously outside the infirmary. It was lucky he'd gotten Jo back as fast as he did. After she collapsed, Zane scooped her up and put the pedal to the medal. Once she was in the infirmary, Allison rushed her into surgery and kicked Zane out so he wouldn't hover, saying she would come get him when they were done. Hovering? Please. Zane Donovan didn't "hover."

But that was nineteen minutes ago! Why hadn't Allison come out yet? Were they still in surgery? Was there a complication? Zane rushed to the door, ready to barge in and ask what was taking so damn long, but then he remembered: hovering. Right. He had to keep his cool. He turned around and sauntered over to the far wall and leaned on it casually, stuffing his hands in his pockets and assumed the typical cool-Zane pose. And if it also happened to give him a clear view into the infirmary, that was by complete coincidence.

Three agonizingly long minutes later, Jo was wheeled out in a hospital bed and Zane hauled ass inside in a _very _calm and nonchalant manner. He stood over her, noting her heart monitor and life signs were blinking happily above her, and that she was breathing slowly but was still apparently unconscious. He grabbed a chair, plunking it next to her bed, and sat down. Her face looked serene and almost angelic as her silky black hair cascaded down around her shoulders and onto her chest, which was gently heaving up and down. She was okay. She was okay.

But was he okay? He thought about the events that had recently transpired again in order to collect his thoughts. Zane realized he'd been thinking about those moments a lot, especially as of late. From their first contact in the jail cell (some things never change) to their exciting minefield excursion, courtesy of the lady of the hour herself. Of course, he'd spent much more than an hour thinking about her. So much in fact, that he'd lost track of the time. Hell, he'd spent more time thinking about Jo in the past few weeks than he'd ever spent on any particle physics problem or code glitches. Zane never thought he'd live to see the day when he would spend more energy on a woman – besides his own mother – than on science. But that was just it - she wasn't just another girl or another equation to solve, she was so much more. Looking at her now, he could feel the spot on his cheek burning where she'd kissed "hallucination" him. He didn't know exactly how she was so much more, he just had an overwhelming gut feeling that he couldn't suppress. And so what if he didn't know yet? He would just have to find out.

Zane shook himself out of his mini reverie and looked down at Jo's hand. Should he take it? Isn't that what people normally did in these situations? No, that might be weird since she wasn't aware of his decision to pursue her. She wasn't aware because she wasn't conscious. So maybe he could hold her hand? It's not like she would be awake to see it. He just wanted to be close to her, to feel the life flowing through her body. He needed to be certain she was really there, that she was really alive and willing to follow through on that promise of a second chance. As he leaned forward, silently debating whether or not it would be overstepping his boundaries, Jo's eyes fluttered open. She released a small groan and placed her hand on her chest. She then turned towards Zane and upon seeing him, her pained frown dissolved.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself. How are you feeling?"

She rubbed her chest again. "Not so good. God, I feel like I've been shot."

"Well we did find this in your chest" said Allison as she walked up with Carter in tow, handing Jo a bullet. "It just missed your heart – you were extremely lucky Jo. And it's a good thing Zane managed to get you in here so quickly."

Zane gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Jo raised her eyebrows and took it. "Wow, that's a .50 caliber Browning Aviation Tracer."

Allison smiled and shook her head. "Yeah, I had to search the military database for a good ten minutes to find that out."

Carter chuckled and squeezed Jo's shoulder. "That's my girl!"

Jo's wealth of knowledge never ceased to amaze Zane. He grinned broadly at and unabashedly at Jo and when she noticed, she gave him a coy smile in return – okay, he could get used to that. She then turned back to the bullet and quickly examined it again.

"Collectors would go nutsfor this."

"Why?" Allison inquired. "They still make them."

"Yeah but they stopped painting the tip in the 1950s" Jo replied, indicating to the blue point. "Wait… so they painted them in the 1940s…"

Carter's eyes widened in recognition, "I knewI'd seen that plane that appeared in the café before!"

Allison cleared her throat and attempted to discretely jerk her head at Zane, but Jo stopped her.

"It's okay guys, he knows."

"But he – but we – but – what? How? When?" Carter sputtered with an incredulous look on his face.

"Don't worry, I won't tell. I promise." Zane looked Carter and then Allison in the eyes, for once not attempting to shield any sort of deceit. It worked, and after exchanging glances with Jo to corroborate whether or not his sincerity was just an act and each giving Zane a once-over, they returned to the problem at hand.

Carter put his hands on his hips and shifted his stance. "So, if things are appearing from the 1940s, then it's probably related to our little… field trip. But they're just popping up randomly! And why did it suddenly start happening? Why now?"

"Well, I did overhear Fargo and Henry talking about some unofficial testing of the Bridge Device, so maybe something went wrong with one of Henry and Grace's tests," Jo remarked. "You should probably start with them."

"And maybe the objects aren't materializing randomly. Maybe they're emerging in a location that corresponds with where they were positioned in 1947," Zane chimed in. "I could try to pull up some schematics of the town layout from back then."

"Great." Carter clapped his hands together. "Zane, you're with me. And you," he said pointing at Jo, "get better. Someone's got to root for the eye patch guy."

"I can help with that," Allison said before Carter gave her a peck on the lips. "The getting better part at least, I'll leave the reality TV watching up to Jo."

"I have the utmost faith in you," he replied in utter infatuation before leaning in for another kiss.

Zane scrunched his nose up a little bit. He wasn't going to act like that, was he? Like a lovesick puppy? Luckily, before his train of thought chugged somewhere much too mushy for Zane's taste, Jo snapped them all back to attention.

"People! Things appearing everywhere! Like in my chest! Could you at least pretend that there's some urgency to this and save the goopy romance for the bedroom?"

Zane smirked. You go, Jo.

"Right! Urgency!" Carter said, refocusing. "Let's go."

Zane turned back to Jo before he left with Mr. Love Struck, making sure she was fine. She gave him a nod and a small smile. He returned the gesture and went to catch up with Carter. This whole having Jo vouch for him thing wasn't half bad. She trusted him.

That was a nice feeling.

* * *

><p>Jo blinked her eyes open from her nap. She hoped the drowsy side effects of the surgery medication would wear off soon. Maybe she should ask Allison about it. Speaking of the good doctor, Allison saw Jo was awake and headed over.<p>

"Here's another little souvenir to add to your collection. He had it sent up here because he's pretty busy working and can't bring it himself," she said, handing Jo a magazine. Jo snorted upon recognizing the Military Ma'am title. She knew who sent it. Allison placed a comforting hand on Jo's shoulder.

"You already seem perkier than you've been in a while, Jo. And from what Carter says, Zane's really trying. I'm happy for you." Allison was practically beaming at her.

"Thanks Allison." Jo thought about it for just a moment before admitting, "I'm happy too."

"Well then, I'll leave you to it. Oh and this," she suddenly procured and placed a mini tub of Rocky Road and a spoon onto the bedside table, "is to bring up your blood sugar and give you some energy. Eat up – doctor's orders."

"Twist my arm, Allison, really," Jo said jokingly.

Allison smiled and squeezed her shoulder softly. "Call me if you need anything."

Jo thanked her again and then opened up the magazine to the first page, finding a sticky note that read:

_Just a little something to help you pass the time. _

_- Zane_

Jo's heart fluttered. Okay, so it was just a magazine, but that plus the way he'd been acting today… Whoa, not again. She was notfalling for this guy. Sure she'd followed Zoe's advice about giving him another chance, but that was just to prove that he wasn't some juvenile asshole, not so he could woo her! But at the same time, there seemed to be something more to this equation.

Obviously, there had always been a spark between them - regardless of the timeline, according to the stories Zoe had told her - but there was something else too. There was an unspoken comfort; immediately after their first civil conversation ever in this reality during their little elevator rendezvous, their guards collapsed. In the car he felt completely comfortable rocking out and managed to make her laugh within mere minutes of their decided toleration, and that was something. The walls that had taken other Zane years to breach were expediently demolished with the wrecking ball that is this Zane.

And it wasn't just because he was the spitting image of the old Zane – they were two different people. Yes, they were physically identical and similarly brilliant, but just because they both had an inclination to eat toasted peanut butter and bacon didn't mean they were identical. There were still things to learn about this Zane because she was basically meeting him for the first time.

And that was exciting for Jo. It was a second chance for her to find that certain something everyone deserves, and she was ready this time. She was a different woman too. Now she was ready to meet Zane, to understand him, to fight with him, to learn from him, to love him – in more ways than one. Yes, she was ready. So what if she didn't love him unconditionally and eternally and whatnot right this very second? They had all the time in the world, and there would be no holding back, no regrets.

Not this time.

* * *

><p>Jo clicked down the hallway of Section Five two hours later thanks to the wonders of modern Eurekan medicine and ice cream. Allison had told her that Zane and Carter were working on a new lead with Henry down in Lab 32<strong>, <strong>and Jo had been itching to get back on the job. Once some crazy off track experiment puts a bullet in her chest, it's understandable that she would want to figure out what the hell was going on. Here it was, Lab 32. The doors swooshed open as she walked in, and the three men looked back at her from a large screen.

Carter grinned. "Back on the job already, huh?"

"Hey, just following your orders."

"For once."

Jo just ignored him and walked closer to the display. "What're we looking at?"

"It's a display of all the appearances," Zane said, gesturing to the locations of the trees, plane, and minefield. "We've programmed this system to track any impending influxes of the exotic particles so we have some sort of warning besides just witnessing the cloud forming."

Henry spoke now, his frustration leaking through his normally calm demeanor. "The thing is we can't figure out how to stop the wormholes from forming. The Bridge Device is off and isn't giving off any more power, so I don't see how else the wormholes could be opening."

"Well since a wormhole connects two points in space time, maybe your whole traversing the timeline deal created a link," Zane offered. "And since you've all been here for months, the link must be deteriorating."

Jo frowned. "What, so now it's glitchy?"

"In a sense," Henry answered. He tapped a button on the control panel and the outlines of another map appeared on the display. "This is the town's layout from 1947. And just as Zane suspected, the location of the appearances correspond with their location back then. The reactivation of the Bridge Device must have activated some trigger, and now the two points in space time are trying to merge."

"How wonderfully catastrophic," Carter sighed. "And there's no way to reverse the effect?"

"Well…" Henry and Zane shared a look. "There is one way, but I don't like it."

"I can reprogram the Bridge Device so that as the next wormhole begins to open, we can counteract it," Zane stated as Henry rubbed his chin worriedly.

"That's great! So why are you saying it like it's problematic?" Carter asked warily.

Henry and Zane walked over to the Device as Henry explained "We can only test it during a materialization and we'd have to be within thirty feet of the wormhole, which, as you have gathered from earlier experiences, isn't exactly the safest distance. But, it's really our only option."

"Then let's get to it," Zane said as he began to make adjustments on the machine. Henry joined him and within a few minutes, they stepped back.

Henry sighed. "I'm not even sure if this will work."

"Well, now's your chance to find out," Jo said, tapping the screen where yellow lines had suddenly begun to emanate from a glowing red dot.

"Where's the source?" Zane asked. But his question was quickly answered as the ground began to rumble and orange streaks swirled through the air of the lab. The four of them rushed behind the panel and Henry and Zane began to tap and twist various instruments on the board frantically. And just as objects began to solidify on top of them, the Bridge Device pulsated, slamming everyone against the wall and causing the orange rays to dissipate.

Jo groaned as she picked herself up, as Carter whined, "I thought you said we'd get a heads up!"

"I didn't say it'd be a long one," Zane countered. Jo just rolled her eyes and straightened her suit jacket. She winced and rubbed her chest, suddenly feeling the sting of the bullet again. Zane saw her expression of pain and walked over concernedly. He placed a hand on the small of her back.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just…" she suddenly became aware of their very close proximity and her breath caught in her throat. Zane looked like he was about to say something, but it was at that exact moment that her phone decided to buzz. Jo took a small step backwards to clear her thoughts as she checked the text:

_All clear. –F_

"Hey guys, it looks like your modifications worked. Fargo just gave us the all clear."

Everyone made small noises of relief, and Carter gave Henry a healthy pat on the back. "To the now plane-free Café Diem! Beers all around!"

* * *

><p>Jo started to follow after the guys, but Zane gently pulled on her arm. She turned back to him with a seemingly hopeful expression on her face. Wow, second time touching her in five minutes and he was still breathing. That was encouraging.<p>

"Hey, so about what we were saying earlier. About getting to know me better." Jo shifted and licked her lips, so Zane continued. "I know this place nearby that has a great view of the sky. And it's supposed to be really clear out tomorrow night, so I was wondering if you wanted to go stargazing with me."

His heart was pounding and he realized he'd been speaking a bit faster than normally. What the hell was wrong with him? He'd asked plenty of girls out in his days. Damn Jo and her ability to make him all flustered. But even with his somewhat pathetic proposal, her lips quirked up and she placed a hand on his arm.

"I'd love to."

Zane grinned, but then a thought popped up in his mind.

"I just want to be sure of something first. Are you saying yes… to me? Or…?"

"You. Definitely you." And then she flashed him a smile that punted all of his doubts out the window like a kicker from a football team, never to be seen again.

He was ready.


	11. When You Wish Upon a Star

_Pure, unadulterated fluff and a chapter title to match. Whee!_

_I'm not stealing Eureka; I just like to borrow its characters and then put them right back where they belong. Like a good, non-copyright infringing citizen._

* * *

><p><strong>When You Wish Upon a Star<strong>

Zane put the kickstand up before dismounting his bike. He checked the time on his phone: 8:53pm. He was a little early, and decided to run through his game plan one more time. He wasn't taking Jo to one of his usual date places, she deserved more than that. But at the same time, he was a little anxious to show her. Sharing a spot he'd always called his own was uncharted territory for Zane. This was a place he would go to think and to revel in the silence, but most of all, it was his and his alone. Or at least it used to be. He used to have no tolerance for that "sharing is caring" bullshit – until he met Jo. There was something about her, something that compelled him to share with her. And it was that something that led him to her front door.

He was still about five minutes early, but he didn't take Jo for one of those people who would be rushing around at the last minute to get ready. So he took a deep breath and he rang the doorbell. As he waited for Jo to answer, he double checked his appearance in the reflection of one of her windows. Not bad. His chiseled torso was clearly evident, even through the purple v-neck and black leather racer jacket he was wearing. But his mind was soon focused on a different body when Jo opened the door.

She looked beautiful. Not that it was any surprise of course, but for once, Zane was allowed to appreciate it without additionally worrying about bodily harm. Her hair was down again. He liked seeing it that way without also having to see her in a hospital bed. She too was wearing a form-fitting v-neck, though Zane thought she pulled it off much better than he did. With hip-hugging jeans and a light sweater to complete her outfit, she looked completely casual and relaxed. It was so nice of her to get all dressed down for him.

"Sexy as always, Josephina," Zane said with a wink.

She looked slightly annoyed that he'd called her by her full name again, but thanked him. "You don't look so bad yourself."

"Gee, don't strain yourself with all that profuse complimenting. But it's okay. I know you think I'm sexy too."

"Well if you know, why should I have to say it?"

"Self-esteem! I'm a man! I nee- wait. You think I'm sexy?"

She only smiled slyly at him in reply, and he pumped his fist triumphantly before mounting his motorcycle.

"M'lady" he said graciously while patting the space behind him.

She did a small curtsey before climbing on and wrapping her arms around him. He flexed a little as she did so and was pleased to hear her snort amusedly. She clung just a little bit tighter to him when he sped off towards their destination, and gave him an extra squeeze every time they rounded a corner. Of course, this made Zane turn the corners faster, procuring tighter squeezes. Jo probably wasn't scared of anything and she could most definitely fend for herself, but knowing that she felt safer when clutching him did boost Zane's confidence a bit. He almost felt sad when they finally reached the clearing because he would miss the affectionate little embraces, but he smiled when he remembered that he was going to drive her back home. Once she peeled herself off of him to stand up, Zane followed suit, his back feeling slightly lonely where she had recently been pressed against him.

"Now what?" she asked.

"Now it's time for a little Eureka magic."

He rummaged through the carrying pouch for a bit, pulling out a small box. After pressing a few buttons, he placed it on the open grass in front of them. It beeped once and then began to fold out in all directions, transforming into a two-person, cushioned lounger with a blanket hanging neatly over the back.

"You know, sometimes it's great to live here," Jo said brightly as they sat down. Zane pushed a button on his armrest that caused the lounger to recline until they were almost completely horizontal.

"Wow," Jo breathed.

They both sat there in silence for a while, fully absorbing the atmosphere. As they gazed up towards the heavens, Jo sighed in contentment. Zane smiled and turned to her.

"I sure know how to pick a spot, don't I?" She smiled in return as he looked back up at the sky.

"Only you would take credit for a natural phenomenon."

"Hey, someone's got to."

His eyes scanned the world above him, soaking in the breathtaking contrast between the rich blue sky and the twinkling white stars sprinkled throughout. It made him feel completely and unequivocally serene. Of course, having Jo by his side didn't hurt the whole experience.

"It sure is beautiful," he said with enchantment filling his voice.

"Funny how luminous spheres of plasma can do that," Jo mused.

Zane turned to her with eyebrows raised, and she nudged him with her shoulder. "Hey, I live in Eureka. Amidst all the threats of imminent death, I've managed to pick up some knowledge."

Zane could tell there was more to this than Jo was letting on. "And...?"

Jo bit her lip and shifted so that their knees were touching. He wasn't complaining.

"If you must know, it was my dad."

Zane continued to look up at the sky, but she had captured his full and undivided attention. She seemed to sense this somehow, so she continued with her explanation.

"My dad loves the stars. He's generally a practical, physical sort of guy, but when you ask him something about stars, he can go on forever. For light-years" she deadpanned. "He probably has every astronomy magazine, book, and movie ever made. And my mom, she thought it was great. She would talk to him for hours about it. He always said she was the brightest star in his life."

Zane knew that Jo's mom had died when she was young, and he could tell it was tough for her to talk about it. He reached over and squeezed her hand. Apparently she liked being squeezed as much as he did, because she then turned to him and smiled. She took a breath and continued.

"You know why I think he likes stars so much? Because they're constant. His job meant that we had to move a lot, but no matter what city, what state we were in, there were always stars. And when… when my mom died, it was devastating. It was just so unexpected. My brothers and I tried to console my dad, but I think one of the things that really helped him was the sky. At night, he would go outside and just stare up at it for hours. And after she was gone, I remember that whenever we had a chance he would pack up all of our gear and we'd go camping. We'd find a nice place set up and then just sit there. Just sit there and look up. You can imagine that with four kids in the house it was never quiet, but at that moment in our trips, we were absolutely silent. And after a while of looking up and thinking about her, he'd quiz us on all the constellations. And not just the easy ones like Orion, Ursa Major and Minor and the Dippers, but also the whacky ones like Sagitta and Delphinus."

"Don't forget Pavo." It was Jo's turn to be surprised.

"Well don't look so shocked! I know stuff too."

"Yeah, like particle physics and computer programming. Since when do you know about constellations?"

Zane paused for a minute. Jo had just shared something extremely intimate with him, and the way she said it, it sounded like he had been the first to hear it. He doubted that even the other him had heard that story. Now it was his turn.

"I was ten. My dad had left a few years ago, so life was pretty tough."

Jo scooted closer to Zane, and it brought him some comfort, allowing the words to flow more easily.

"My mom was working nonstop and I was currently experiencing the wonderful thing that is being the only person below the age of thirteen in high school. Fun stuff. Then, the week of Christmas, my mom managed to scrounge up all of her vacation time and we took off. We went to this one cabin – it's actually about fifty miles away from Eureka – and we just hung out. It was the first time I saw her happy and relaxed in a long time. She took me outside every night and we would use this rented telescope to look at all the constellations. My only present was this big thick book with everything you ever wanted to know about constellations. I was so excited that she could afford a gift for me that I read the whole thing in a day and memorized it to show her how much I appreciated it. And once I learn something, it's hard for me to forget it."

"I'm guessing that doesn't apply to manners," Jo quipped.

"Hey, I'm being sentimental here!"

"I know." She smiled and entwined her fingers in his.

She had said all of two words and held his hand, but that was enough. It was at that moment that Zane realized he would get the moon for Jo. People always said that. "Oh I'd get the moon for you." But he would actuallyget it. It would take up too much space and it wouldn't serve any sort of functional purpose and it was kind of impossible, but the way she was looking at him… he would do it. Zane returned the smile and decided to lighten up the mood.

"Say, doesn't pavo mean turkey in Spanish?"

"Yup." She snuggled in closer to him. "Unless you're a constellation, of course. Then it means that you're Hera's mythical peacock."

Zane laughed. "Well that's something you don't hear every day." He then tried to find this so-called peacock constellation with little luck. He began to squint in the hopes that it would help, even though it never really does.

Jo glanced over, and upon seeing his scrunched up facial expression, she raised an eyebrow.

"Whatcha looking for Mr. McSquinty?"

"Oh, you know. I'm just waiting on the Millennium Falcon to fly by at any moment."

"Uh, hello? A _long time ago _in a galaxy _far, far away_ ring any bells? Besides, you wouldn't be able to see them at light speed." She shook her head. "And you call yourself a nerd."

Zane sat up and gaped at her. "Where have you beenmy whole life?"

Jo laughed as he dramatically collapsed back onto the lounger. "That's it. You're the perfect woman, Jo. You're perfect."

She turned her head quickly to him. Uh-oh. Was he not allowed to use the "p" word? But then he noticed she was blushing. Appreciation was etched onto every feature of her face, and her eyes sparkled with gratitude. Maybe he should say it again. He liked that look. A smile finally made its way onto her face.

"Maybe you should be asking yourself how you got so lucky."

Oh and he was. Jo was everything he could hope for in a woman, in a friend, in a partner. And she was right here with him. Right next to him. Five inches away. Four inches. Three inches. Two. He could feel her breath on his lips. One inch. Just… about…

It was then that a bright light caught their attention. Their heads both snapped up just in time to see a shooting star streaking across the night sky.

Jo closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them, Zane couldn't restrain himself and nudged her.

"What'd you wish for?"

"I can't tell you!" she said, lightly smacking him across the chest with the back of her hand. "Otherwise it won't come true."

"Fine, then I won't tell you mine!" Zane pouted, crossing his arms. "But I will tell you that caramel and those hand cuffs of yours are involved," he purred suggestively, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Jo attempted to repress a smile before leaning into him and whispering in his ear.

"Just take me home."

"Already?" he whined.

"Come on lover boy, we've got a big day tomorrow."

"Every day in Eureka is a big day," Zane grumbled as he packed up the lounger and sat on his bike.

"Exactly," Jo said before taking her place behind him and dropping a kiss on his cheek. Zane's grin returned and he revved up the engine, causing Jo to nuzzle her face in his neck.

Let the awesome squeezing commence.

* * *

><p>They strolled leisurely up the walkway to Jo's house, neither in a hurry because they knew the moment they reached her door, the moment she stepped inside and he drove away alone, the night was over. And that just wasn't a happy thought.<p>

He stopped her a few feet from her door. "Hey, Jo?"

She turned eagerly to meet his gaze. "Yes?"

"As cliché as it might be, tonight was everything I could have hoped for, and more. You are one hell of a woman, there's no doubt about it."

A small blush crept up her cheeks as she bit her lower lip in an overwhelmingly adorable fashion.

"But I also want to thank you. For giving me another chance."

"Well you'll hear no regrets on my part. That was definitely a risk worth taking."

"Then maybe you wouldn't mind taking one more little risk."

Jo cocked her head to one side and parted her lips in preparation to ask him what that risk might be, but before she could speak, Zane stepped in and captured her mouth with his own.

Needless to say, it was amazing.

It took Jo less than a second to respond, as suddenly she slid her hands up his chest and encircled his neck. His dropped down to her waist, pulling her in tighter until there was nothing but fabric separating their bodies. He trailed his tongue along her lower lip to ask for entrance, which she gladly granted. Soon afterwards, their tongues were dancing slowly but passionately and Zane could taste her. She tasted like chocolate and Vinspresso and all things sweet in the world and as her fingers caressed his neck, he could feel his spine tingling. Every part of him cried out for her at that moment, because nothing else in the world had seemed right up until now. As they finally broke apart, both slightly panting, Zane rested his forehead against hers. Her eyes flicked up to his and the desire within them was burning clearly.

And he felt it too. Oh yes, he felt it. But he knew they should wait. And she knew they should wait. Because if they let themselves go, tonight might turn into something that they would come to regret. Not that any girl regretted having sex with Zane. He was a godin bed. And he had no doubt that Jo was equally as masterful. Those sensuous lips of hers on any part of his body would make him-

No. They couldn't move too fast. And that notion passed between the two of them wordlessly. (Did Jo have telepathy? Because that would be cool.) Zane took a step back and allowed Jo to take the last few steps to reach her door. When she opened it he started back down the walkway, but stopped when he heard her call his name. He looked back to see her standing in the doorway with a sparkling smile on her face.

"My wish came true."

As she closed the door, Zane bubbled over with excitement. He very calmly and very coolly walked over to his motorcycle... and then proceeded to dance a tiny jig around it. After managing to compose himself (it took a few minutes), he plopped down on his bike. His wish might not have come true tonight, but all his dreams had.

* * *

><p><em>OH MY GOD ARE YOU DROWNING IN THE FLUFF YET. BECAUSE I AM. AND IT'S GREAT. FLUFF DROWNING IS MY FAVORITE KIND OF DROWNING.<em>

_Also, people who come up with constellations are completely batshit crazy, because the Pavo constellation looks nothing like a peacock. I mean really._


	12. The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

_Merry Christmas! Yes, it's February, but hey. I'm just trying to keep the cheer going. _

_This is set a few months after the previous chapter._

_Also I don't own Eureka. I'm sure that's a big shock to everyone._

* * *

><p><strong>The Most Wonderful Time of the Year<strong>

Jo sat happily at the counter sipping the delicious hot chocolate Vincent had prepared for her as snowflakes fluttered down outside. Since it was the Christmas season, she decided to refrain from chugging her usual two Vinspressos a day and switch to something a little more festive. Also Vincent made her. He was using his new immersion blender that "Secret Santa" had gotten for him to make a frothy peppermint foam to mint things up a bit, and he wanted Jo to be the guinea pig.

"Well? How is it?" Vincent asked, leaning over the counter eagerly.

"Vincent, you never fail to amaze. How about a refill?"

"Sure thing!" he said cheerily. "But don't just thank me. My Secret Santa deserves half of the credit – he knew just what to get me! And, I heard that he struck again" he whispered conspiratorially.

"Oh really?" Jo raised an eyebrow.

"Yup. He got Zoe a vinyl record of The Clash. She was _thrilled_." He sighed wistfully. "This guy is a wizard."

Jo received her now steaming and full cup of delicious chocolaty goodness gratefully and grinned inwardly. No one was on to her yet. She watched Vincent hum and pass out unprompted hot chocolates to other customers in the café. She definitely made the right gift choice for him. Not only was he super jazzed about it, but everyone else benefitted from it too in the form of liquefied happiness; it was definitely a win-win. She finished off the rest of her drink and looked up at the clock. Time to get back to work.

Sliding off her stool and thanking Vincent one last time, Jo buttoned her coat and braced herself against the blast of cold air as she exited the Café. She was bubbling over with excitement as she hummed along to Christmas carols on the drive to GD. Secret Santa! Why hadn't she thought of it before? All she had to do was keep her cool and this would officially be the most successful undercover operation ever pulled in Eureka.

As she walked into the GD rotunda, Jo practically had a seizure as the millions of bright Christmas lights strung up flickered rapidly. She walked over to Fargo with her hand shielding her eyes and noticed he was tapping furiously on his tablet. Fargo freaking out and pushing buttons. That was a sight she'd never seen before.

"Geez, are you trying to send all the employees into spasms?"

"They're not supposed to be doing this! They're supposed to be – aha!"

Fargo triumphantly pressed a portion of the screen and suddenly, the lights stopped flickering. In fact, they shut off altogether and he let out a quiet "Whoops". Soon after, Jo heard a loud crash followed by a squeal, and she groaned. The rotunda had been dark for all of thirty seconds and already someone had managed to injure themselves. For supposedly housing a bunch of brainiacs, GD sure had a lack of common sense sometimes.

Fargo finally managed to get the lights back up without additionally causing them to flicker, and they were dimmed to set a nice ambience. Well, it would have been a nice ambience if Larry hadn't knocked over the giant Christmas tree and was sprawled across the floor with sparkly ornaments rolling every which way.

"Larrrryyyy!" Fargo snarled as he smacked his tablet down on a nearby table. He stomped over angrily and Jo smirked a bit as she followed him to the disaster site. It was amusing to see little flashes of the "Chief" in him.

Larry sat up and looked nervously between Jo and the Director. But when Jo glanced over at Fargo's face, she was thinking Larry didn't look nervous enough. Finally the little twit tried to explain himself.

"It was dark!" he whined. That was it. That was his genius excuse.

Jo crossed her arms. "You couldn't see past your nose, so you decided to run blindly and take note of your surroundings with your face?"

He opened his mouth, but whatever equally whiney, equally lame excuse he was going to make this time was cut off by Fargo.

"Go arrange a cleanup crew to fix this. I want them here in twenty minutes. I don't care what job they're working on – this takes priority!"

Larry scrambled up and scurried off.

Jo turned to Fargo and gave him an amused look.

"What? This party needs to be perfect!"

"You of all people should know to cut him some slack."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I seem to recall a certain trigger-happy button-pusher assistant to the head of GD. Remember him?" Jo said with a playful smile on her lips.

Fargo's face reddened a little and he muttered "Yeah, I remember."

Jo nudged his arm with her elbow.

"Hey, you're a great Director, and I know this party will be a big hit. Just don't let all that power get to you, okay?"

He nodded. "You're right. Thanks, Jo."

She nudged him one more time before walking away.

"Happy planning, Chief!"

Fargo just smiled at her mocking tone and turned to delegate tasks to his eager-to-please minions. Jo checked her watch. 7:53am and already a crisis – just another day in Eureka. At least it couldn't get any worse, right? Jo mentally cursed herself for even thinking those famous last words. Ah well.

Now was the perfect opportunity to set up Fargo's gift. She quickly grabbed the nicely wrapped lunch box from her office and hurried to his fancy lair. Checking that his back was turned to the large glass windows, she placed the present on his desk and flicked the mini Fargo bobble head before exiting.

She went through her mental Secret Santa checklist: three down, four to go. First she would drop off Allison's bunny slippers and then she'd sneak Henry and Grace's present to Grace's lab while she was out working with a Dr. Saunders. (Yes, Jo had used her Head of Security privileges to check everyone's schedule; Secret Santa duties seemed a worthy cause).

She hoped the couple would like the gift. Jo hadn't known Grace for very long, but they'd bonded a lot over discussions about their somewhat similar situations with their significant others, and she'd discovered that Grace was extremely sweet and understanding. Jo had gotten her and Henry a beautiful engraving with the quote: "Love withstands the test of time", and Jo had added a sticky note to the end that read "lines".

A scientist passed by and Jo smiled and received a beaming smile in return. She was no longer met with nervous, somewhat frightened glances, but instead with warm acknowledgements. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that she was still tough and professional, but she found herself feeling friendlier and… happy. Happier than she'd been in a long time.

Strange as it seemed, being uprooted from her old world and dumped into a new one had provided Jo with the chance to reflect on her life, had given her a clean slate. Of course it was tough at first, but Special Forces had taught her how to adapt. But she hadn't simply adapted or simply forced survival; she evolved.

Yeah, yeah, she knew that individuals don't evolve, species do and it takes thousands of years, but the five of them had already overthrown numerous laws of science in their little adventure, so what was one more? Cheesy as it seemed, Jo felt like a new woman. Not only was she more invested in the town since her job allowed her to have access to current Eureka projects, but she was more invested with the people. She had better relations with many of the scientists, and truthfully, with her friends. The overhaul of her life forced Jo to open up more to Carter and the others. Granted, she still wasn't willing to spill her guts out and get all touchy-feely, but there was definite progress.

And Zane. She couldn't help but smile as she set the engraving down on a reclining chair in Grace's lab. She and Zane still had their flirtatious banter and physical attraction – _definitely _physical attraction – but they had something new, too: intelligent conversations. Zane told Jo all about the projects he was working on, and the excitement he exuded through his explanations made Jo excited. Their discussions motivated her to learn more about science. Sure, she wasn't an Einstein, but Zane made her feel comfortable and confident in her intellectual abilities. She didn't feel stupid around him, she felt encouraged. He stimulated her in every sense of the word.

And that's when Jo realized it: she was in love with this man. Again.

* * *

><p>A few hours later, Jo meandered around the Fargo's spectacular Christmas party. She'd sneakily placed Carter's gift in the Sheriff's Office during his lunch break and now that her job was done, she could finally join in the celebration. It seemed they'd managed to solve the tree fiasco and Larry looked a lot calmer than before. Jo had to admit that he and Fargo had really outdone themselves this year. There was an ice skating rink, gorgeous decorations, a fabulous array of Vincent's creations (not to mention his fancy new hot chocolate recipe, which everyone seemed to be chugging faster than he could make it), the perfect sound track, and… oh God. Was that…? No, it couldn't be. But it was!<p>

Jo couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle. Parrish was seated in a throne wearing a tight black shirt that said "Santa" on it, with a girl on either side of him, one sporting a "Naughty" shirt and the other sporting a "Nice" one. And surprisingly enough, he actually had a line of women waiting to sit on his lap. Before Jo could get too caught up in her amusement though, she suddenly felt a comforting warm presence behind her as two familiar muscular arms wrapped themselves around her abdomen.

"What a tool" Zane whispered in her ear.

"Oh please. That would _so _be you in another universe."

"Touché" he chortled. "But as long as we're in this one…" he suddenly twirled her around to face him, placing a quick kiss on her lips. "Wait… we _are _still in this universe, right?"

Jo poked his chest with a scolding finger. "Hey, timeline jokes are not funny."

He reached up and enclosed her hand with his own, speaking in a soothing tone. "Relax Jo, I'm not going anywhere."

She smiled and kissed him softly, and when they pulled apart his eyes lit up.

"And hey! I forgot to mention this, but Secret Santa got me two tickets to Springsteen! Would you care to escort me?"

"Of course! I already cleared up my entire day and made sure Fargo doesn't force me into any assignments, so I definitely won't have any conflicts."

Zane furrowed his brow. "Wait, how did you know the date…"

Jo groaned once she realized her mistake, but he had already figured it out and gasped.

"_You're Santa!"_

And there was a sight Jo would never tire of seeing: Zane's dazzling smile. He picked her up and twirled her around while simultaneously enveloping her mouth in a kiss.

"Best Christmas _ever._"

Jo grinned. "But you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay? It's called Secret Santa for a reason."

"Yes ma'am" Zane saluted her and Jo rolled her eyes.

"And Jo? I have a present for you too."

He fished something out of his pocket and handed it to her. It was a jewelry box, and when she opened it, Jo gasped.

"Zane, it's beautiful."

She traced the long silver chain with her finger and admired the glittering pair of ballerina slippers dangling from the end.

"Just in case you wanted to wear something around your neck again, this one is a little less depressing."

She smiled and spoke softly.

"I love you Zane."

"Yet one more thing we have in common, Josephina."

She was about to protest his use of her full name, but then she heard him say it, and it was all she could do not to melt right on the spot.

"I love you too."

And upon hearing those four words, she wasn't sure if the DJ had just changed the song to the Hallelujah chorus, or if her brain was generating the sound itself. What she did know was that Zane was right:

Best. Christmas. Ever.

* * *

><p><em>Sorry this took so long! But yeah, Christmas ep in February. It happened. <em>

_And I'd love some feedback if you feel so inclined (:_


	13. A Lifetime of Love

**A Lifetime of Love**

Zane pried his eyelids open as sunlight began to shine through the thin curtains of Jo's bedroom windows. He shifted lightly to get a better view of the sleeping beauty, but was careful not to wake her. It's not that she was overly cranky when he woke her up, but if they were both awake then that meant it was almost time to get out of bed. Zane hated getting out of bed. And with Jo lying next to him, it was basically at the bottom of his to-do list.

He propped himself up on his elbow and looked down at the gorgeous woman he could call his lover, his best friend, his everything. He gently pushed some loose strands of hair out of her face and couldn't help but smile. He'd been using those muscles an awful lot since she came into his life, as she seemed to have that effect on him, no matter what they were doing.

He exercised with her, he ate with her, he slept with her, he laughed with her, and he even occasionally worked with her, but he would never get tired of her. And he would most certainly never stop smiling as long as she was around.

His mind drifted to his grandmother's ring in that little black box. He'd been thinking of that tiny sparkly object quite a bit, and in a way he never had before. When he was younger, he used to see it simply as a keepsake from that lovable, slightly crazy old woman. Since his parents didn't have a stable relationship, using such a valued heirloom to propose to someone had never really crossed Zane's mind. And then, when Jo was hallucinating and placed the ring in his hand, the object had turned into something scientific, into an equation he needed to solve. But now…

Now it was something that he imagined twinkling on Jo's left hand as she danced with him at their – dare he think it – wedding. He wasn't able to picture the location or the flowers or the music, because truth be told, he didn't care. The only thing that mattered about that day was the woman he was dancing with. The same woman who was lying next to him at this very moment, the same woman who made him laugh and think and strive to be a better person every day. The same woman who made him go rock climbing and taste fruity protein smoothies and watch reality TV, the same woman who made him feel alive.

He stroked her jaw gently and she blinked a few times before looking up at him and smiling slightly. It didn't even matter that it wasn't a full-on grin or that her teeth weren't showing, it still made his heart skip a beat. The size of her smile wasn't important, because as long as her eyes were shining happily like that, Zane was smitten.

She yawned while stretching her arms above her head. "Morning already?"

"Unfortunately. But I'm thinking we should just stay in bed all day."

"That sounds amazing, but I'm going to get hungry soon."

He grinned. "Which is why I stocked up yesterday on both healthy and sugary treats to keep up our energy." He gestured behind him to a towering stack of to-go boxes from Vincent, and she grinned, scooting a little closer to him.

"Zane Donovan, I'm going to keep you for a while, okay?"

"Oh, I'm planning on keeping you a lot longer than that, Jo."

"How much longer?"

"'Til death do us part."

Her eyes shot up to his and he saw her swallow before speaking.

"That's a long time."

Zane shrugged. "Hopefully. But knowing Eureka's track record with disaster, it might be sooner than you think."

Jo punched him the arm and he laughed. She smiled too and then looked up at him expectantly.

"Well where's your ring, Romeo?"

"I don't have it."

She raised an eyebrow at him questioningly, so he continued.

"It's Valentine's Day! If I proposed now, it would just be way to cliché. I'm not that cheesy."

"Riiight, because stuffing my office full of flowers and hacking into the stereo system to blast Celine Dion at me for all of Valentine's Day last year was definitely not cheesy."

He smiled proudly while remembering his awesome feat. "Nope! That was just romantic."

She smiled and shook her head, and then bit her lip nervously. God, she was adorable.

"So if you're not proposing today…"

"It may be tomorrow, or the day after that, or even the week or month or year after that. It may be at a fancy dinner for our anniversary, or while we're sitting in Café Diem drinking Vinspressos, or even while we're taking our morning jog. I'm going to be spontaneous, Josephina."

"Isn't telling me that you're going to be spontaneous kind of defeating the purpose?"

"Trust me, you'll be surprised when it happens. And it's going to be awesome."

A wide grin spread across her face and she kissed him softly.

"I'm looking forward to it."

And with that, she snuggled even closer to his chest and hummed happily, and they melded into that position that felt so right. They weren't an uncomfortable tangle of limbs, they were like two peas in a pod, like two adjoining pieces of a puzzle, like peanut butter and bacon. Lying here, next to Jo, was Zane's happy place. There was nowhere else in the world he would rather be than with her, seeing her, listening to her, and holding her.

And that's when it hit him: he wasn't treading the water of relationships, he was floating. Peacefully floating, with Jo by his side.

And that was all he needed.

* * *

><p><em>I know it's short and quite sappy, but I hope you were left with an air of optimism and promise. I really think these two kids have something special, and I want Zane to be thinking about spending his life with Jo, and Jo being ready to say yes to that commitment.<em>

_Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed or alerted or favorited – you guys rock! Getting those email notifications is like drugs to me, and I can't tell you how much joy I got from writing this story and hearing all your wonderful feedback._

_And so here I am, asking for reviews for this one last time (: _


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